Adventure holiday in Borneo
| country: | Malaysia, Borneo |
| location: | Sabah & Sarawak |
| trip type: | Moderate walking holidays |
| departures: | This trip is no longer running |
| price: | From £1050 (15 days) excluding flights. We can arrange flights from the UK. |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Adventure holiday in Borneo
Sarawak and Sabah are a naturalists dream. In the National Parks there are literally thousands of plants, hundreds of birds and a wide variety of wildlife including proboscis monkeys, macaques and the famous orangutan.
In Sarawak, opportunities to learn about the indigenous culture include overnights in the Iban long houses where tales of headhunting still abound. We trek the jungle trails in Gunung Mulu, explore one of the world's largest cave systems and ascend the razor sharp limestone Pinnacles.
Our adventure continues in Sabah where we ascend high above the jungle canopy to the summit of Mount Kinabalu (4101m) before wandering the trails through the forest reserves and visiting the Orang Utan Rehabilitation Center. We also include time on Turtle Island (with a visit to the turtle hatchery).
Sarawak and Sabah are a naturalists dream. In the National Parks there are literally thousands of plants, hundreds of birds and a wide variety of wildlife including proboscis monkeys, macaques and the famous orangutan.
In Sarawak, opportunities to learn about the indigenous culture include overnights in the Iban long houses where tales of headhunting still abound. We trek the jungle trails in Gunung Mulu, explore one of the world's largest cave systems and ascend the razor sharp limestone Pinnacles.
Our adventure continues in Sabah where we ascend high above the jungle canopy to the summit of Mount Kinabalu (4101m) before wandering the trails through the forest reserves and visiting the Orang Utan Rehabilitation Center. We also include time on Turtle Island (with a visit to the turtle hatchery).
what's included on our adventure holiday in Borneo
14 breakfasts, 9 lunches and 11 dinners, flight Kuching/Mulu and Sandakan/Kota Kinabalu, airport transfers on day 1 and day 15, expert bilingual guide, medical kit, comfortable hotels, lodges/mountain refuges/longhouse, private air conditioned vehicles, sightseeing as listed in itinerary, national park & site entry fees. day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrive Kuching |
| Day 2: | Morning sightseeing, afternoon at leisure |
| Day 3: | Mulu National Park, Deer & Lang caves |
| Day 4: | Wind & clearwater caves, commence trek |
| Day 5-6: | Trek headhunters trail, complete trails at Iban longhouse |
| Day 7: | To Limbang |
| Day 8: | Boat to Kota Kinabalu |
| Day 9: | To Kinabalu National Park |
| Day 10: | Commence trek on Mt Kinabalu |
| Day 11: | Summit Mt Kinabalu and descend to Poring Hot Springs |
| Day 12: | Transfer by road to Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary |
| Day 13: | Transfer to Sepilok Jungle Resort |
| Day 14: | Selingan Turtle Island |
| Day 15: | return to Sandakan and fly to Kota Kinabalu where trip concludes |
small group adventure holiday
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends its good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as seeing new places.highly commended
This tourism business was Highly Commended in our 2006 First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards - the largest awards of their kind in the world, and organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Times, World Travel Market and Geographical Magazine, of the Royal Geographical Society. Since 2004, the Awards has recognised individuals, companies and organisations in travel making a big commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and helping to conserve biodiversity.
how this holiday makes a difference
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Our operating concept for trips to Sarawak is to offer an alternative to the ‘staged’ cultural show type of tour but rather to visit the area as guests of the local people. The people of the longhouse community are thus directly involved in the local tourist economy. We travel by locally-made longboats to visit the longhouses and hiking in the jungles and visiting the farms we are able to truly experience the longhouse lifestyle. There have been few changes to the longhouse or local lifestyle for the sake of tourists and we make sure our visitors are given extensive instructions from our guides regarding the local etiquette and customs.
After seeking the permission of the longhouse community to bring visitors to the area, our local operator Borneo Adventure built a simple guesthouse using local materials and labour. The local villagers are employed in the guesthouse as cooks, boatmen and guides. Borneo adventure’s relationship with the people of the area has been one of mutual gain and the longhouse tourism committee was established in the village to ensure an even distribution of labour within the village. The food provided is bought from the local villagers to subsidize their income and anything that is not grown locally is purchased in Kuching and the packaging and non-biodegradable rubbish is returned to Kuching for recycling or disposal. Another aim of the project is to provide an incentive for the local people to conserve the endangered wildlife. Prior to the arrival of visitors, one of the only forms of cash income for the people of the longhouse was to sell fish from their rivers to down river buyers. While this provided a much needed income, there was no control over catch rates and the stocks were in danger of being depleted. With a reasonably steady cash flow where is no need to sell their fish and the stocks have stabilized and thus the very important source of protein for the community. All travellers are provided with our award-winning 20 page Responsible Travel Booklet which outlines our environmental guidelines and practices and will provide you will clear details on how you can play a vital part in reducing your impact on the fragile environments and cultures around the world. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |